[HN Gopher] US braces for cicadas by the trillion as two broods ...
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US braces for cicadas by the trillion as two broods of periodic
insects coincide
Author : vinni2
Score : 30 points
Date : 2024-04-07 10:36 UTC (12 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
| leipert wrote:
| So time to invest in Sesame futures?
| fnordian_slip wrote:
| In case anyone needs the reference:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUxMY77i0q4
|
| On-topic: I don't know why, but the videos of masses of cicadas
| always seemed so overwhelming to me, I mean I just cannot
| imagine walking through an effected area. Nature can truly
| produce incredible phenomena.
| piva00 wrote:
| I'd include locusts as well, I cannot fathom the experience
| of being in the path of a insects swarm extending for
| hundreds to thousands of kilometres.
| bdjsiqoocwk wrote:
| In the real world, by the time this reaches the news it's
| already priced in.
| chrisgd wrote:
| I upvoted you, but would say - Only if you assume markets are
| perfectly efficient. It seems there is often some money to be
| made.
| mensetmanusman wrote:
| Times nicely with the Armageddon of 2024.
| jjtheblunt wrote:
| Fun math in action here: these two broods emerge every 13 and 17
| years, respectively. Those two numbers are coprime, so their
| least common multiple, the next time a multiple of one will
| coincide with a multiple of the other, is 13 * 17 = 221, which
| subtracted from 2024 is 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president
| and the previous time the broods emerged in the same year.
| soared wrote:
| Thats from the article
|
| The simultaneous appearance of the two cicada broods - known as
| Brood XIX and Brood XII - is a rare event, not having occurred
| since 1803, a year when Thomas Jefferson was US president
| jjtheblunt wrote:
| Right but the article didn't explain the calculation
| lisper wrote:
| Also to the point: the reason that the breeding cycles of
| these species are prime numbers of years is that it makes
| it less likely for a successful predator to evolve. To be a
| successful specialized predator of these species, your
| feeding cycle has to be a multiple of their breeding cycle
| which in practical terms means, since the cycles are so
| long, it has to be a exact match.
| jjtheblunt wrote:
| The 13s also get 17-1 breeding iterations without shared
| food competition from the 17s, etc, during the breeding
| days. The coprime periods effect strong attraction to the
| involved prime periods.
| lisper wrote:
| True but that's less of a factor because the two species
| don't have a lot of geographic overlap.
| cyanydeez wrote:
| Crypto mating will eventually be a human endeavour
| TulliusCicero wrote:
| I'm really curious how the broods 'know' when to pop out.
| NewJazz wrote:
| Tiny clocks.
| anon84873628 wrote:
| https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-
| periodical...
|
| Some how they keep track of the growing cycle of the trees
| they feed on.
| crucialfelix wrote:
| When I schedule periodic tasks I always use prime numbers for
| the loop time. That way it's less likely that tasks will be run
| at the same time.
|
| It's not really that important, but I do it as a form of
| tribute to the cicadas.
| seydor wrote:
| Peter Gregory is pleased
| esafak wrote:
| Time to load up on sesame seed futures.
| gosub100 wrote:
| Take notice if you're a motorcycle rider. If you see a swarm,
| pull over and drive at minimum speed because crushed bugs en
| masse can absolutely de-bike you.
| autoexec wrote:
| > The two broods may only overlap slightly in a small area of
| central Illinois, meaning there mostly won't be a larger-than-
| normal boom in numbers in any one place
|
| It's too bad that for all the headlines making this sound like a
| biblical plague the reality will be that this summer won't be
| much different from normal unless you actually care to get to so
| up close and personal with these bugs that you'll notice
| differences in species.
|
| I'm hoping that they'll at least sound different enough that I
| can appreciate the variety since I almost never see them crawling
| or flying.
| robotnikman wrote:
| I remember last time the 17 year brood emerged I was living in
| Illinois. I remember riding my bike to school and it was
| impossible to not run over a bunch of cicadas. Also a nearby zoo
| was paying people to bring in buckets of them which they would
| use to feed animals there.
| nharada wrote:
| Yeah I remember this, it was pretty gross in a fascinating way.
| You'd walk outside and every step was crunchy.
| fbdab103 wrote:
| What is the going rate for a bucket of cicadas?
|
| The logistics of transportation sound tricky. Am I scooping up
| dead cicadas? If live, transporting the bulk intact is going to
| be fun. I am imagining broke teenagers balancing squirming
| buckets on a bike handlebars.
| cheese_van wrote:
| Is the US really "bracing" for this event? Girding their loins to
| brace in anticipation of this event? Bracing their bodies or
| their minds? Will the Walmart people make runs on toilet paper?
| If I want to properly brace, what do the experts say?
|
| Brace, brace, brace. Brace for bugs.
| hollywood_court wrote:
| My family and I just arrived in Dallas to see the eclipse since
| it's on the same day as my son's 5th birthday.
|
| Where should we travel to see the cicadas?
| schoen wrote:
| You have a chance to see them in northwestern Lousiana or
| western Arkansas:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cicadas#Map_of_broo...
|
| You might want to double-check with a local. The ones closest
| to you in Dallas would be Brood XIX, the light blue ones on the
| map.
| tedunangst wrote:
| Cicada broods only come out infrequently, but people freaking out
| about cicadas is closer to an annual tradition.
| https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/05/11/cicadas-resta...
| geetee wrote:
| Isn't it Brood XIII, not XII?
| cosmin800 wrote:
| Are they edible? We should eat them, protein powder.
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(page generated 2024-04-07 23:01 UTC)